Interview with outRAGEus singer and guitarist Jeff Nizick

One of the most clever band names as of late has to be outRAGEus. outRAGEus is a five piece rock band from Missouri that is a local area supergroup of sorts, having come together out of two other successful local bands Blinded Black and The Broken Hearts Academy. The group recently released a debut, six song EP which is currently grabbing a lot of attention for the band. The band is currently without a record deal but that will likely change soon seeing as they recently ranked among the top 15 unsigned artists on MySpace. The summer is shaping up to be a busy one for outRAGEus with tour dates lined up around Middle America and hopefully some writing and recording for the band’s debut album. We recently spoke with outRAGEus’ guitarist and singer Jeff Nizick to learn a little more about what this band is all about.

outRAGEus is a band that formed after two successful Missouri bands Blinded Black and The Broken Hearts Academy broke up but what was the process actually like that led to the formation of this group?
Jeff: Well it was weird. For a while we all just kind of gave up on music. I was living in Kentucky a year later working in printing and decided I wanted to get back into music and write a solo album for fun and wanted to see if Nick and Jake would come to the studio and help. They then told me they were working on something as well and wanted me to play guitar in the band. They had met Miles through Nick recording with him at his studio awhile back and hit it off. They really needed another guitarist so after thinking about it for awhile I agreed to it and moved back to St. Louis and we began outRAGEus!

The name outRAGEus is clever to say the least. Who came up with the name?
Jeff: Um I believe Jake did. It kind of describes our weird sense of humour and immaturity. [laughs]

If you had to describe the band’s sound in a sentence or two, who would you say is most comparable to outRAGEus?
Jeff: We are a power/pop band that ranges from an All time Low sound to a Nelly sound. [laughs] No joke.

What’s the writing and recording process like within the group? Do you all write equal parts or is it more the efforts of one or two of you?
Jeff: Well Miles usually comes up with the basis of the songs and gives it to the band and we each collaborate on it and turn it into a rocking song.

You have a few shows in the Missouri and surrounding area this spring. Where else can we expect to see outRAGEus out on tour?
Jeff: We will be going on a 2 week east coast tour with School Boy Humor in May and have a few other things cooking up this summer. Keep an eye out!

You recently shot a music video for the song “Blame it on the Blackout” with director Zack Luey. What was the experience like shooting the video and where can we check it out?
Jeff: It was ridiculous. We knew it was going to be difficult to shoot a music video during a real party but man it was rough. We started shooting around 4 pm and had a HUGE supply of Keystone Light. As the night went on and we shot the live crowd shots the floor to the house starting cracking from everyone jumping and by the time we finished the shots the wood was warped and half the band was blacked out… but we got by. [laughs]

“Blame it on the Blackout” is of course from the group’s debut, six track, self-titled EP. Are you pleased with how the EP has turned out?
Jeff: Yeah definitely. We all have worked with Marc McClusky in the past minus Miles and knew he would be perfect for this EP.

One of your songs will appear in the upcoming film from Steven Miller called ‘Scream of the Banshee.’ How did you get the song in the movie?
Jeff: Our older band Blinded Black had shot a music video with Steven and got the titled track to his last movie ‘Automaton Transfusion’ which was a Dimension Extreme movie. So when we found out he was doing a new movie with Lionsgate we knew we wanted to be part of it.

Can we expect to see a full length record from the band? If so, when might we see it?
Jeff: You can definitely expect to see it. We are using this EP to shop it around a little bit and we are still writing. Hopefully within the next 6-7 months you’ll see something!

What is the band’s summer tour itinerary looking like so far?
Jeff: 2 weeks East coast in June and 2 weeks West coast in July. More info keeps rolling in so keep up with us on our MySpace page.  [ END ]